Kauri Day

Today turned into a Kauri Tree themed day.

We set off from our hotel this morning, filled the car up with fuel and then drove south to the Kauri Forest.

We first stopped and walked out to see Tane Mahuta - Lord of the Forest - which is the largest volume kauri still living, at 2000 years old.   Its diameter is 16 feet.  (Last extra).

We then drove through to a scenic lookout, but it was unfortunately closed.  We did spot the tumbledown house (third extra) on the edge of the forest so stopped to have a look at that.  Our next stop was for a walk in the Trounson Kauri Park (main blip) where there were lots of large Kauri on a loop track on a boardwalk.  Kauri roots are shallow and can be damaged by walking on the forest floor, and there were plenty of signs making sure that we stuck to the boardwalk and didn't disturb the trees.

We needed to get to Auckland this evening, so our next stop was at Dargaville for some toasties.  We then drove over the bridge and found a viewpoint near a conical peak to eat our toasties.

For the afternoon we visited the Kauri Museum at Matakohe.  The second extra shows a piece of Kauri wood cut from a large tree that had died.  The first extra shows the size of the trunk of this tree (in the centre) in comparison with those of the biggest trees known.  The tree we looked at this morning is the first ring out - the outer three trees are all no longer alive, some being struck by lightening, but must have been a sight to behold.

From there we drove through to our hotel for the next few days in Auckland, with the roads gradually getting busier as we approached the city.